


The Coming Out of Captain America

by TheIntelligentHufflepuff



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Coming Out, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Mentions of homophobia, No Smut, Protective Bucky Barnes, Steve Rogers Has PTSD, but it's only really touched on this is basically an excuse for fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-08
Updated: 2016-02-08
Packaged: 2018-05-19 04:59:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5954515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheIntelligentHufflepuff/pseuds/TheIntelligentHufflepuff
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve accidentally outs himself at a press conference, storms out of said conference for unrelated reasons and is comforted by his boyfriend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Coming Out of Captain America

**Author's Note:**

> This was meant to be all hard hitting and angsty but it kind of really isn't so I'll try again next time, I guess.
> 
> (Edited slightly to fix typos on 31.3.16)

The conference room was cramped and bland, a sadly spinning fan beating in futility against the stagnant air. Besides Steve, Natasha was speaking in measured tones in to the variety of microphones arranged along the table, fielding numerable off-colour remarks with a falsely demure half-smile plastered on to her sweaty face. Steve shared a look with Bucky- slouched to his right- that clearly showed that the two were on the same, equally frustrated page. 

The hour hand on the uninteresting clock opposite them ticked over to 5; only half an hour left. Maybe after this ordeal was over, Steve and Bucky could sneak out, find an ice cream parlour and investigate the new flavours the future had introduced...purely for research purposes, of course, although...  
“Captain Rogers, what do you say about rumours that you and Sergeant Barnes are romantically involved?”  
Steve froze, the temperature in the room plummeting. In his peripheral, Steve was dimly aware of Bucky sitting up slowly, eyes and jaw tight as he singled out the speaker: a polished looking young black woman, with the sharpest eyes of any of the assembled journalists and media crews. Shit.  
Steve cleared his throat, summoning up his most charming Captain America smile “Well, that rather depends what rumours say, doesn't it?”  
Nat gave him a surreptitious encouraging nod. 

“Many are positive, especially in the LGTBQA+ community.” A small spurt of pride flickered across Steve’s chest “Some say that Captain America shouldn't be dating a man..”  
Bucky’s lip curled away from his teeth in a sneer, but Steve was already there “Captain America will date whoever he damn wants!” he snapped. The room drew a collective breath. Steve gulped. This wasn't exactly how he was intending to come out to the general public but hey- waste not want not “And Steve Rogers is dating Bucky Barnes.”  
The clamour that followed was deafening, a chorus of mixed joy and outrage, of questions like “how long have you been together” and “how can you explain this to the thousands who looked to you as a role model of support for the American Way?”. Steve ignored them all in favour of reaching for Bucky, who had turned pale and taken on the look of a cornered animal. His chest tightened at the sight.  
“Buck?”  
The brunette swallowed heavily, clenching and unclenching his fists. He took a deep breath before crafting his face in to the definition of neutrality, muttering a quiet “Tell you later.”  
Steve wasn't exactly happy about it, but he turned back to the crowd anyway. Natasha tapped the microphones loudly, smirking as the journalists quieted one by one.  
“On va voir.” Steve muttered. 

He and Bucky answered question after question after question. Some they answered fondly, with darting smiles and a delicate blush. Most were either boring, offensive, invasive, or a combination of all three. 

Honestly, Steve was surprised it took so long for somebody to bring up Bucky’s past. 

It was a mousy middle aged man with the smarmy look of somebody who liked to get a rise out of people who said it, every word setting Steve’s teeth on edge “Are you aware that you’re...dating...a murderer, Cap?”  
Steve clenched his fists under the table, his anger getting the better of his media savvy mouth “And are you aware that I'm a soldier? And that soldiers kill people?”  
The reporter- insolent prick- raised an eyebrow condescendingly.  
Steve cut him off “Are you aware of what it’s like to end somebody’s life and not think about it for a second until after it’s all over and you’re alone? After you've won and you can’t sleep at night because the faces of the people whose lives you ended are playing on a constant loop in your head?” Steve was vaguely aware that his voice was rising in tandem with his blood pressure, but he couldn't stop “When you can see your fist going through their skull? When you find yourself in the bathroom at three in the morning trying to wipe off blood that isn't there?”  
The reporter was floundering like a fish.  
“Do you?” Steve yelled.  
The reporter shook his head mutely.  
Steve pushed his chair out and stood “Then don’t talk shit about what you don’t know.”  
The clatter of cameras followed him all the way out of the room. 

 

Two hours later, Steve had mostly calmed down. Mostly- but there was still one punching bag in the gym left to solve that problem. Steve had just started laying in on it when the door creaked open, and the smell of coffee heralded the arrival of another human being.  
“Stevie?”  
He caught the bag on the rebound, but didn't turn around “Buck.”  
The touch of Bucky’s metal hand against his neck was cool, and Steve leant in to it on instinct “Steve. Stevie. C’mon.” Bucky crooned, running his fingers through Steve’s sweat drenched hair. He turned to face Bucky, stomach flipping in guilt as he saw the stress pinching his lover’s features.  
“What’s the matter? What happened back there?”  
Bucky snorted, dragging Steve to sit down on the mats stacked in the corner. For some odd reason, their rubbery scent was somewhat comforting.  
“I could ask you the same question.”  
Steve shrugged.  
Bucky attempted to stare him down for a minute, then rolled his eyes, relenting “Alright. So I know that’s not exactly the first press conference I’ve been to, and I was expecting the questions the minute you opened your big mouth but it still took me by surprise, I guess.” Bucky shrugged, running a finger along the rim of his Styrofoam cup. Steve fished his water out of the corner and took a swig “I had a sorta flash back.”  
Steve raised an eyebrow “How so?”  
Bucky cleared his throat uncomfortably “All those things they were saying, about us two being two guys an’...I remember he...I used to hear a lotta that around and...well...” Steve nodded patiently. Bucky used to have a sliver tongue before it all happened, but now he sometimes had difficulty with words “Apparently I used to have nightmares sometimes. That they’d see I wasn't only in to women and come for me then they’d come for you too and they wouldn't believe me if I told them you weren't like me.” Steve frowned sadly “I’d wake up from those dreams in a real spin.” Bucky added softly.  
Steve touched his fingertips to Bucky’s cheek, darting in for a chaste kiss “You’re okay. Nobody can hurt you for that now. Nobody can hurt either of us for that now.”  
Bucky smiled bitterly “Haven’t they already?” Steve was about to protest but Bucky shook his head “Never mind me, what about you? What’s up?”  
Steve didn't even bother to protest his innocence “I can’t hold my tongue for one press conference and now the whole media is going to be harping on about how Captain America is unstable and...dammit.”  
Bucky loosened Steve’s fingers one by one, kissing each in turn. A small pucker had appeared between his eyebrows “Is it true? What you said.”  
Steve flushed in shame, but nodded.  
“God. Stevie, I'm sorry.”  
“About what?”  
“About the fact that there’s nothing I can do to help you and that I’d be a hypocrite if I said those deaths weren't your fault.”  
Steve let his shoulders droop, swinging his water bottle idly from the loop of his thumb and forefinger.  
“We’re a pair.” he huffed sardonically.  
“Yeah,” Bucky admitted, looping an arm around Steve’s shoulders. He accompanied the action with a brief kiss “We are.”  
They stayed there for a while, just taking comfort in the fact that they were both there, moderately sane and alive against all odds.  
Mollified, Steve made a move towards the gym door and the shower beyond. He’d hardly made it two feet when Bucky caught Steve’s wrist, tugging him back a step “Oh, and Steve? Everyone there was sworn to secrecy because of the discussion of-ahem- sensitive materials.”  
A slow smile started to spread across Steve’s face “So I can...?”  
“Yeah,” Bucky laughed “Yeah, you can.” 

 

Four hours later, the selfie Steve posted of he and Bucky mid-kiss was trending worldwide and had- in the words of one Tony Stark- broken the internet.


End file.
